Whole Again
by MsMKT86
Summary: Finn returns to Lima after leaving Rachel and New York ready to embrace his future as a Lima Loser. After being fired 3 times, Burt gives him a job at the garage. Finn starts his new job and finds that his new job could bring about a new love and a new Finn. - Rated M for Language- Set in the HOCKEY & HEARTBREAK universe. Don't have to read H&H to enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! Thank you for clicking this story. I just wanted to share a little information about it. It takes place about a month after _Don't Forget Me_ and 10 years before _Close Enough to Hurt Me_(You don't have to read those stories in order to enjoy this story, but I do recommend reading _Close Enough to Hurt Me_ after reading this). I hope that you enjoy this chapter and those that follow. **

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, it's character, places or anything you may find in the real world._**

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_ "Rachel we really need to talk." I said grabbing her hand as she walked into the apartment. _

_ "What about?" she asked._

_ "You." I said quietly._

_ "What? What about me?" she asked, trying to hide the worry in her voice._

_ "Look Rachel, I'm going home." I stated. I wasn't looking her in the eye._

_ "To visit?" she asked trying to make me look at her._

_ "No. For good." I answered, finally looking at her. _

_ "What? Why?" she asked snatching her hand away from me. The anger building in her body._

_ "Being here, it's changed you Rachel. You don't care about me or us being together as a couple. All you care about is your stupid college friends." I yelled._

_ "I'm making connections, Finn. I need these people for my career." she shouted back to me. "You don't get it!"_

_ "No, you don't get it!" I roared. "What you promised me wouldn't happen when we left Lima is exactly what's happening!"_

_ "What are you talking about?" she questioned me, folding her arms across her chest._

_ "You promised me that I wouldn't just be your "trophy boyfriend", but that's all I am to you. You show me off to your NYADA friends." I said, lowering my voice. "Look, I'm just going to go." I turned away from her and headed toward the door. I guess she hadn't noticed my bags by the door when she first came in._

_ "So that's it? You're just going to leave." she said, standing in the middle of the living room._

_ "Yeah. I'll call you." I said without looking at her. I didn't say anything else. When I closed the door behind me the sound echoed through the hallway. _

XXXX

I didn't know how it would go over once I got to my mom's. I mean, she told me not to go to New York in the first place; but she's never been the one to say I told you so, so I don't know. But Burt. Burt will definitely say I told you so. He's the one that told me that running off the New York to "be there for Rachel" was a bad idea and that I need to take my post high school years to figure out who I wanted to be as an adult. Now that's fine and everything but what 18 year old wants to hear that?

I took a cab to the house that I lived in with my family. I know that at one point in time every kid that ever lived in Lima felt like a Lima Loser but when you return home after living on your own that's when you realize that the real Lima Losers are the dudes that don't make it on their own and have to come back and live in his high school bedroom. At least this one didn't have cowboys on the walls.

I paid the $45 dollar cab fare in $10s, $5s and I'm ashamed to say quarters. But in my defense, I was a bartender and people tend to pay for $2.50 drinks with $5s and well, enter the quarters. So I got out and went to the doorstep. I stood there for a while. I didn't know whether I should knock or just go in. Finally I just decided to ring the doorbell. After a few long minutes the door opened and Burt stood before me.

"Finn." he said looking at the bags at feet. "Come in." I grabbed my bags and stepped inside past him.

"Who is it?" I heard my mom say from the other room. Burt and I made eye contact.

"It's some tall goofy kid." he called back.

"Finn?" my mom said as she came into the hallway. "Oh Finn." she said hugging me. "What are you doing here?" I froze. No one wants to say, _'hey Mom. I had to come back. You were completely right about what New York was gonna be like and now I'm back to restart my life as a Lima Loser.'_ No. You wanna say stuff that's gonna make your mom proud. So instead of answering, I just shrugged. She hugged me again and began to lead me upstairs.

"I told you so." Burt said as he closed the front door.

"Burt, stop it." my mom said giving him a stern look.

"It's ok Mom." I lied. "I just wanna get to bed." I gave them both a weak smile and kept going to my room.

The room was exactly like I left it. Empty and full of hope. I on the other hand was returning to it empty with no hope at all. I flopped down on the bed and closed my eyes. As much as I didn't want the tears to come, they did. I was sad. No, depressed. I loved Rachel and I wanted to be there for her. Hell, I was in the back of the theater during her Funny Girl audition. I was in the dance studio when she had her callback. I did everything that I could to support her.

Maybe she was right and I didn't understand. I mean, NYADA is where she was when she became the star I always knew she'd be, but a promise is a promise. I wiped the tears and began looking around for my phone when I heard _Not the Boy Next Door_ start to blast from it.

"Hello?"

"Oh my God, Finn." Kurt said, his voice full of worry.

"I'm ok, Kurt."

"Tell me the truth."

"That is the...well I will be ok." I said as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. "How do you even know?"

"Rachel. She called me after you left. Crying her ungrateful little eyes out." Kurt responded.

"Don't be like that." I said. "She is grateful for everything that she has."

"She was completely ungrateful to _you_ for all that _you_ did for her." he said irritation in his voice.

"It's fine, Kurt. She will be." I said trying to convince the both of us.

"Stop being so nice to her."

"I'm not. I just don't want to talk about it anymore." I said running my hand over my scruffy jawline. "Just don't tell her where I am. She can always call me and talk but only if she wants to Kurt. Don't butt in."

"But Finn..."

"No Kurt. Rachel and I are adults now. We shouldn't have to go to our married friends about our failed relationship."

"That's what we're here for." Kurt said softly.

"Yeah but I don't need that right." I said with a deep sigh. "Just let this play out alright. Whatever happens, happens and I'll deal with it."

"Ok. I love you, Finn." he said. I could tell he was unsatisfied with my decision but I knew he would respect it.

"I love you too, Kurt." I said before I ended the call. I just laid straight back. I didn't know where I took the wrong turn to get on this long dark suck ass road back to Lima but I'm hoping that a some point there will be some light.

XXXX

I woke up to _Raise Your Glass_ playing right in my ear.

"Hello?" I answered groggily.

"Hey Finn. How you holding up?" Blaine's comforting voice asked.

"Oh, hey Blaine. I'm alright." I said scooting back against the headboard.

"I hope you weren't too hard on Kurt last night."

"Why would I have been hard on him?"

"Well, I just figured that after his phone conversation with Rachel that you might've said something to him." he explained.

"What are you talking about?" I asked stretching.

"Rachel called last night after you left." Blaine informed me.

"Oh. What'd she say?"

_**'Hello?' Kurt answered the phone.**_

_** 'Kurt, Finn's gone. He just left. I can't believe this.' Rachel said, tears threatening to choke her. 'He said that I'd changed. That's not the truth. I love him Kurt. Where did he go? I know you know.'**_

_** 'Are you done?' he asked.**_

_** 'What?'**_

_** 'I know he left. I've known for a while now that he was going to leave.'**_

_** 'How could you not tell me?' she said shocked. 'I thought we were best friends.'**_

_** 'Finn is my brother; he comes first. And Rachel you and I haven't been best friends for a long time.' he said rolling his eyes.**_

_** 'What?' **_

_** 'You heard me. Kurt Hummel is no longer in the business of putting family second.' **_

_** 'How could you let him do this to me?' she said trying not to yell.**_

_** 'Are you serious, Rachel?' Kurt asked incredulously. 'How long was he supposed to stay around? No one wants to be a trophy. No one wants to feel like nothing.'**_

_** 'I never made him feel that way.' Rachel shouted this time.**_

_** 'Really? Then why did he leave?' he asked with attitude. 'Listen if you weren't such an ungrateful little wench, then he might still be here.'**_

_** 'I can't believe you Kurt.' she spat.**_

_** 'I can't believe you.' he spat right back. 'Finn moved here, even though he didn't want to, to be here for you. You make him 10,000 promises and break all of them. Who wants to stick around with someone who can't keep promises?'**_

_** 'I didn't break any promises.'**_

_** 'I promise to not treat you like a trophy. I promise that being in New York will strengthen us as a couple. I promise that once we get there, I'll help you find your best Finn.' Kurt rattled off. 'Those are promises, Rachel. And you broke every single one of them.'**_

_** 'I...I...' she started.**_

_** 'It doesn't matter now. He's finally free.' he said happily. **_

_** 'Just please tell me where he is."**_

_** 'No. He asked me not to."**_

_** 'But...he's being unfair.' Rachel said. Kurt rolled his eyes again; he could tell she was pouting.**_

_** 'He's being an adult. And when adults are in horrible situations, they get out.' Kurt said matter of factly. 'You need to take a serious step back and think about things. Until then, I don't think you and I have anything to talk about.' he said before ending the call.**_

"Why would he say those thing?" I asked, more to myself but Blaine answered.

"Because you're his brother and he loves you. I love you too, Finn and we just want whatever's best for you. So if being in Lima right now is what's best for you then, we're gonna support you." Blaine said gently.

"Thanks, man."

"No problem. Well, be safe, call often. I better go before Kurt starts baking."

"I will. Tell him to vac-pack me some cookies or something." I said with a laugh.

"No way. We'll be at the post office all day." he laughed.

"Alright, Blaine, love you little brother."

"Love you too." he said before I heard the click.

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**A/N2: I wasn't sure if it was confusing or not so I wanted to clarify something. During Finn's conversation with Blaine, the bold is Blaine retelling him about the phone conversation between Kurt and Rachel. **

**Ok, so I hope you enjoy this. Let me know that you thought.**

**Once again, REVIEWS = LOVE!**


	2. Chapter 2

Three months later

I had come home for the 90th day in a row feeling pathetic. A guy can only have so many crappy jobs before he starts to get a complex. You know the kind that says, _hey if you can't make it as a busboy then you should develop a deep __love__ of comic books, then move into the basement of your mom's house, cover the walls with pictures __of__ half naked animated chicks because they're the only one__s__ that'll talk to you. Which is also a little sad because well, they're pictures._ But I was gonna try to hold off on that. At least for ten more days.

A few days after I returned to Lima I went to see Coach Beiste. We had a good talk and she told me that I had so much potential. That all I had to do was find what I was good at and do it better than anybody else. Then she said something about being better than greased pig on Sunday. I didn't know about that last part but the other stuff helped.

I left McKinley feeling like a new man. Until I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do. I drove around for a while realizing that even after nine years, the place hadn't changed. I pulled into The Lima Bean parking lot. At the time, I thought it was fate that they had a help wanted sign in the window. I went in, grabbed it and they gave me a brief interview then they gave me a polo shirt, visor and an apron and I started right then. A month later I got fired for breaking the espresso thing. I told them I should just stick to decaf or non-decaf.

So I was without a job again, but my mom told me that Breadstix was hiring. She said it wasn't much but it was something and I should take anything while there was a job to get. So I did. I got the uniform and again started that day. It didn't end well. Just, if you're gonna work in food service, don't be clumsy. People don't like it when you dump their food all over them. So needless to say, I got fired from there too.

Once again unemployed, Mr. Schue called me to tell me that McKinley was looking for janitors. I needed the money so I went over to the school. I talked to Principal Figgins and he gave a uniform and I started right there on the spot. He said _'Finn Hudson it would be an honor to have you mop our floors.'_ And then I guess being funny he said, _'Just as long as it's not in your underpants.'_ I blushed like a loser, and left his office.

The janitor's closet at McKinley is small and creepy. I mean as a kid when you sneak in there to make out you don't notice. But as an adult, you notice all the shit that should have creeped you out. Like the weird smell of old sex and ammonia. Or how the dust mop heads looked like furry creatures or how the mop buckets had so much dust on the wheels it looked like it was wearing socks. Anyway, it was going fine...well until that fateful day. I was cleaning out the Cheerios office and I may or may not have tipped the mop bucket and short circuited the fax machine, printer, Gatorade machine and computers in there. Either way, Coach Sylvester and Coach Roz pulled me down to Figgins' office.

Coach Roz said, _'I can not believe that you would hire this tall clumsy damn white boy to clean up around here.'_

And Coach Sylvester said, _'It will take more than the stench of Finn's failure to clean the halls of McKinley and before I witness anymore damage to my, _Coach Roz coughed, _**our**__ Cheerios, I will eat her bronze damn Olympic medal.'_ So needless to say, I was once again fired. So, there I was. Back in my high school bedroom in the same place I was when I showed up three months ago. Unemployed, sad and alone.

I laid around the house for another month. Shut in seemed like the right course for my life. This way no one could witness my embarrassment. One day when I was watching some show on TV about how to skin a fish my mom and Burt came in and stood in front of the screen.

"Honey, we love you." mom said. "But you can't stay here anymore."

"What?" I asked shocked.

"It's time to go buddy." Burt said. "You been moping around here for four months now."

"We know how you feel but Burt and I have our own lives, sweetie." she said with a gentle smile.

"Listen Finn, we're not kicking you out because we don't love you." he said, adjusting his cap.

"That's right. We're kicking you out because we know you can stand on your own two feet."

"Uh..." I said. It was all I could get out. I had a little bit of money but I had no idea if it was enough to get a place. "When do I have to be gone?"

"Two weeks." Burt said. "Your mom and I are going back to Washington."

"Oh. Ok." I said getting out of the chair. "I'll start looking now." I said as I made for the exit.

"Finn, wait." mom said grabbing my arm. "Here. Take this." I looked down in my hand and it was a wad of money.

"What?"

"It's $2,000." she said. "It's not much but it should help."

"Thanks, Mom." I said hugging her tightly. "I'll be out as soon as I can." I smiled at them both and went up to my room. I pulled out my laptop and starting searching for places.

Five days later

With my bags and some other stuff from my room loaded on the back of my truck, I drove toward my new place. I pulled up in front of Lima Heights Towers. It was noisy and kind of dirty but it was also $85 a month so...whatever. I lugged my shit up stairs. I hated this apartment. It came furnished but I swear there was blood on the couch and a pee stain on the mattress but I figured if I covered the couch with a blanket and put two of those fitted sheets things on the bed then I'd be safe.

I put the little bit of things I had away and sat on the opposite end of the couch...away from the blood stain. I tried to make myself relax. I mean, I had to right? This is where I lived now so being uncomfortable was pointless; because mom and Burt weren't gonna let me come back. So, I was stuck.

"Hello?" I answered my cell phone.

"Hey sweetie." my mom said on the other end.

"Hi mom. What's up?"

"Burt and I are on our way over." she said. "We have some things for you."

"Oh. Thanks." I said. "I'll be waiting downstairs."

"See ya soon." she said ending the call. I took a deep breath and headed downstairs. When I got outside, my parents were pulling up.

"Hey son." Burt said as he jumped out of the truck. I waved as I walked toward them.

"What is all this?" I asked as I took a peek into the bed of the truck.

"A TV, bed sets, pots and pans, stuff for your bathroom." she said opening the tailgate. We all grabbed some stuff and carried it upstairs to my apartment. "Oh Finn." my mom said when I opened the door.

"Where do you want the TV?" Burt asked trying to distract my mom from the disaster of my apartment.

"Right here." I said. Burt opened the box and began setting up my TV. My mom and I set up my kitchen, even though box macaroni and cheese was my best dish. She helped me set up my bathroom and after a few hours, we were done.

"Are you gonna be alright, honey?" Mom asked me.

"Yeah, mom." I said hugging her. She hugged me back. Burt hugged me and I returned his hug.

"Alright, we'll see you in a few months." Burt said. I nodded and saw them out. "Finn?"

"Yeah?" I said.

"Meet me at the shop tomorrow at 6:30."

"In the morning?"

"Yes. Don't be late." he said as he and mom headed down the stairs. I made some Kraft mac&cheese, watched some TV then went to bed. What else was there to do?

I woke up the next day at 4:30am. That shouldn't even be a real time but I got up, took a cold shower because the landlord said I could only use the hot water at night. I ate the rest of the mac and cheese, grabbed my keys and headed off toward the shop. When I got there, Burt was waiting.

"Morning." he said smiling brightly.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"Let's go." he said with a chuckle. I followed him inside the dark shop and to the office. "Sit down Finn."

"What's this about?"

"You."

"Uh, ok." I said nervously.

"You need a job." Burt said. "That two grand your mom gave you isn't going to last forever."

"I know but I've been trying to budget and you know..."

"Listen, don't worry about it alright. You've got a job."

"Where?"

"Here, at the shop." he answered.

"Doing what?"

"I don't know. The manager will be here in about thirty minutes. Just go ahead to the locker room. I'll leave a note for the manager." he said. I nodded and headed off to the grungy locker room that smelled like a porta-potty and motor oil. I found the janky cubby that held my overalls. I slipped into them and returned to the office.


End file.
